Fall Horse Feeding and
Management Tips by Judith A.
Reynolds, Ph.D., P.A.S., Equine Nutritionist
In the Fall, show and
performance horses are being prepared for the year-end
championships and futurities. Many people are also preparing
horses for fall sales. This is the time to put the finishing
touches on horses with special preparation programs. For in-depth
information, see
“Feeding and Fitting Halter and Sale Horses,” by Stephen
Jackson, PhD in the
Technical Bulletins section.
When beginning show and sale preparation programs, it is important
to remember that horses need time to adjust to new feeding
programs. Adaptation to a new feed takes one to two weeks,
especially if you are making substantial changes to the type of
forage, forage/concentrate ratio, amount of fat and/or amount of
starch in the ration. Then, the metabolic adaptation to added fat
takes from three to four weeks. We recommend starting preparation
programs at least 90 days before the event. Excellent results are
seen when NATURAL GLO® # 204, NATURAL GLO Nuggets #80684 or
MOORGLO® #11083 are added to finishing programs for 90-120 days.
Performance horses needing to peak in the fall usually benefit
from ‘tweeking’ of their programs to take into account the new
forage crop, the summer heat, and the wear-and-tear from the long
seasonal campaigns. We might add more fat to a ration, and we
often increase the GROSTRONG® Minerals #641 or GROSTONG Precise
Minerals #681 by an ounce or two daily this time of year.
Remember, the HELPLINE is available at 1 (800) 680-8254 for custom
ration analyses.
This is also the time of year when foals are weaned and mares are
fed to support the next foal. New weanlings should have an easy
time in the transition if they have been on a creep feed designed
for their age and weight. They are still in a rapid growth stage,
but cannot get as much protein, energy, vitamins or minerals from
pasture and hay as adult horses. Therefore it is crucial that they
receive those nutrients from high-quality sources like Patriot®
16P Junior #80022, GROSTRONG Mintrate® #594, Patriot 36%
Supplement #80026, ShowBoost® #205, or PRO-VITA-MIN 20 Tubs #11228
in carefully balanced FORAGE FIRST® Programs.
For more information, see these articles about feeding growing
horses in the Technical Bulletins and Horse Sense sections
Fall is also the time for great trail
riding. Horse owners are now conditioning their horses for the
extra miles. For great trail riding experiences, bring along:
GROSTRONG Ultra-Fiber™ #558
or SENIORGLO® #10130, great travel feeds, with added fat and
lots of digestible fiber to reduce your hay requirement while
traveling, and
FORAGE FIRST Timothy/Alfalfa or
Alfalfa Hay Cubes, convenient sources of premium-quality forage
that are perfect for traveling.
An average trail horse on
all-day-rides would need about 8 pounds of each product per day,
which is much easier to carry and feed than the typical 25# of
long-stemmed hay plus 2-5# of feed. Be sure to accustom your
horses to the change in feeds before you leave for the ride.
Remember, both the pelleted feeds and the hay cubes are
heat-processed and weed-seed free so they can be used in
hay-restricted state parks and forests. Surf this web site for
more information about these products and the rest of the great
FORAGE FIRST products.
